Friday, August 9, 2013

East Coast: Round 2

On July 31…

-P picked me up at the Baltimore airport, and we went straight to breakfast.
-P had heard about this restaurant on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives that he wanted to try.
-So we went to Blue Moon Café. It was amazing.
-I had the country scramble (biscuit topped with eggs, bacon, cheese, and sausage gravy) with hash browns.
P had the Captain Crunch French toast. I had a few bites. It was basically like eating dessert for breakfast. He said it was “too much of a good thing" and got tired of it.

-We were able to check into the Best Western early and leave our stuff.
-We headed to Fort McHenry where we spent several hours walking through the museum, around the perimeter of the building, into the little underground areas, and through the barracks and other rooms. It was really interesting to learn about the huge flag (30’ x 42’) sewn by Mary Pickersgill.

-We drove to look around at some restaurants in an area. There was a little pub and also a Jimmy John’s, which P was surprised to see. Naturally, we ate at Jimmy John’s. This was my second time there. Still wasn’t amazed by it. I could make a better sandwich at home. Still... Full belly = happy Janae.
-We went into Harris Teeter, a grocery store, to get some snacks and water for the next day. We ended up with a bag of mini Snickers, a bag of kettle cooked BBQ chips, granola bars, Haribo gummy bears, and a huge case of water bottles. I also got a Coke Zero. Don’t judge us.
-We went to Edgar Allan Poe’s house, which isn’t open until October, and took a couple of pictures.

-We drove to Westminster Hall where Poe is buried, but it was closed.
-We drove back to the hotel and got changed into our bathing suits.
-We went to the Jacuzzi for about a half hour or more.
-We went back to the hotel room and stayed in just watching some videos and stuff.
-We woke up the next morning and had free breakfast at the hotel.
-We headed to the Metro station at Greenbelt and rode that into Washington, DC.

In DC on August 1…
-We exited at the Archives. We walked through and looked at the Declaration, Constitution, and Bill of Rights, along with the museums inside.
-We went to Ford’s Theater and then across the street to the house in which Lincoln died.

-We learned that none of the above is original.
-We took the Metro down to the Smithsonian stop and got tickets for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
-We walked back down to the Smithsonian Museum of American History and walked around for a little bit. It was neat. There was an old colonial house and some cool old objects, but the displays we really wanted to see were closed.
-We walked back down to the money-making place and took the tour at 5:30.
-We rested for a few minutes afterward because I was getting grouchy. P responded by getting me some Famous Amos cookies because I told him they are my favorite. He is the sweetest.
-We headed back to the Metro station and rode it to Arlington.
-We walked really fast to watch the changing of guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We were both very sweaty.
-We watched the ceremony, but it closed at 7, so we walked right back out.
-We went back to the Metro and rode a few different tracks back to Greenbelt.
-We got to the car around 8:15 or so and decided to eat at TGI Friday’s. It was crazy in there. It was packed. The bartender was yelling into a microphone, and there was music and dancing. Also, we were the minority. It was an interesting experience.
-It took an hour and 20 minutes to drive home, so we made it by 11:40 PM.

In Elkton on August 2…

-We slept in.
-P made breakfast—I only wanted eggs and toast.
-TV repair guys came.
-P got me hooked up with his wireless, showered, and left for work.
-I wrote 3 articles and uploaded pictures to Facebook.
-I got ready, and P came to pick me up after work.
-We went to Macaroni Grill.
-We saw The Way Way Back.
-We went to Rita’s for custard afterward.

In Elkton on August 3…

-I went with P to work, but I drove his car home so I could have it.
-I got some donuts from Dunkin Donuts.
-I wrote some articles.
-I exercised (two round of the 15 minute exercise I like to use).
-I made a list and went to the Dollar Tree where I got miscellaneous things including some round cake pans for P, per his request.
-I went to Wal-Mart. It was insane. I picked up things to make German chocolate cake from scratch, and dinner for Sunday.
-I wasted time on the computer.
-I went and picked P up from work.
-We went into Boston Market, but I didn’t want anything from there. They don’t have ham anymore. What the?
-We ate at Friendly’s instead, and we shared a sundae.

In Elkton on August 4…

-We woke up pretty late because P has late church.
-We made three round German Chocolate cakes from scratch.
-We made the frosting.

-We went to church, and we left after Sunday School.
-P made dinner: smoked chicken with lemon and rosemary, roasted red potatoes, and broccoli. It was delicious.

-We went on a walk through his complex and down a road. The area is so beautiful with all the trees.
-We watched Before Sunset.

On August 5…

-We woke up at 5 AM to catch a bus to NYC.
-We found the parking lot by chance, thank goodness.
-We rode the 2.5 hours to NYC. I slept half of the way there.
-We ate at Panera for breakfast in NYC.
-We walked to the subway and took it downtown.
-We went through the 9/11 Memorial.

-We walked down to Battery Park.
-We went and got on the free ferry to Staten Island. We saw the Statue of Liberty on the ride.

-We walked around there a little bit.
-We got some delicious pastries from Au Bon Pain.
-We walked to the subway, found out we had to buy tickets at a different station, walked all the way back to the other one, then walked to the one we needed again.
-We rode the subway uptown to the Met.
-We walked around the Met for an hour and a half or so. It was awesome. We saw the Rome and Egypt exhibits, the arms and armor, some European art, Medieval art, and Byzantine art.
-We walked to the subway and got some pizza on our way there.
-We took the subway down to the place we thought the bus was going to pick us up. We should’ve checked our tickets because we went to the wrong stop, and had 5 minutes until the bus was supposed to arrive. We ended up having to run from 7th and 28th to 11th and 34th. Probably the worst 15 minutes of our lives. Turned out that our bus was late, so we ran and almost died for no reason. The bus arrived an hour and 20 minutes late. We could’ve seen more of the Met.
-We took the bus home, and we played Words With Friends on the whole drive. He won the first game, and we didn’t finish the second game till we got home. I won. That means we had to play a third game to get best out of three.
-Also P got us lost on the way home by taking a wrong turn. He wasn’t using Siri for directions. That’s what happens.
-P had a really bad heat rash on his legs, a horrible headache, sore shoulders, and was generally in a lot of pain. So he took a Lortab and some ibuprofen. He fell out of his bed. I died laughing. I’m still laughing today.

On August 6…
-After spending the whole day walking, we were super sore and tired.
-We had cream of wheat for breakfast. I had berries and bananas and peanut butter in mine. P had brown sugar in his.
-We got ready and drove to the movie theater. We paid $19 for two matinee movie tickets! $19!!!! Ugh. And $7.50 for a bucket of popcorn. Concession prices are outrageous.
-We saw Wolverine. It was all kinds of fun. Still thinking about Hugh Jackman’s veins…
-We drove home. P had a bowl of cereal, and like 30 minutes later I decided I was hungry.
-So we had leftover smoked chicken, made some pasta and pesto sauce, and a spinach salad.
-Then we went to Wawa gas station where I got a chocolate caramel frozen drink, and we both got some snacks.
-We came back home and watched random videos on YouTube.
-Then we watched The Raven on Netflix. We also started to watch Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, but P fell asleep. I had already seen it anyway.

On August 7…
-I made us some cinnamon apple oatmeal. It was a total disaster. Don’t use green apples to make cinnamon apples. Seriously. Gross stuff.
-We drove to Philadelphia. It was awesome. I love that city.
-We ate Chinese food.
-The Graff House was closed :(
-We went to the Christ Church Burial Ground where Ben Franklin is buried along with four other signers of the Declaration.
-We saw Independence Hall again.
-We went through Congress Hall.
-We saw Carpenters’ Hall.
-We saw some old houses: The Todd house, the Powel house, the Bishop White House, and the Physick House. They were all closed. No tours for us. :(
-We went to the Vietnam Memorial and walked around the port near the water.
-We tried to see Franklin Court where his house once stood, but it was closed. I guess they’re renovating it or something.
-We went into the print shop which was pretty neat.
-We went into the post office too.
-I got some soft serve at Dairy Queen. P got a blizzard. We had to use the restroom, so we needed to be customers. It was really too bad because we all know how much I hate ice cream. ;)
-We walked back to the car and drove home.
-We cleaned up a little bit.
-We went to Cracker Barrel for dinner.

On August 8…
-We slept in. I packed up and finished some laundry.
-We both showered and got ready.
-We had a small bowl of cereal and half a banana.
-We drove to Baltimore to eat at Blue Moon Café again. I had a BLT, and P had red velvet pancakes.
-We drove to the cemetery where Poe is buried. There were some creepy things there. Poor sunken, tilted, faded headstones.

-I got approximately 11 bites on my legs thanks to the swampy nature of the graveyard.
-From there, we drove to the airport and said goodbye.